Monday, April 28, 2014

The Comfort TV Trivia Quiz: The Answers Revealed

 
Well, how did everyone do? Let’s find out:

1. Henry Bemis

The bespectacled character played by Burgess Meredith in the classic Twilight Zone episode “Time Enough at Last.” 



2. Frances Lawrence

You may know her better as Gidget, played by Sally Field.

3. Grady Byrd

One of the lawmen who substituted for Rosco P. Coltrane during actor James Best’s brief boycott of The Dukes of Hazzard. Grady was portrayed by TV stalwart Dick Sargent.

4. Cyndi Grecco

Sang the theme song to Laverne & Shirley, “Making Our Dreams Come True.” The song peaked at #25 in 1976. 





5. Willie Armitage

The muscle of the IM Force for all 7 seasons of Mission: Impossible, played by Peter Lupus. 



6. Sonia Manzano

The actress who has portrayed Maria on Sesame Street for what seems like forever. 

7. Wilbur Post

The owner of Mr. Ed (played by Alan Young)

8. Victoria Winters

The quintessential gothic heroine of Dark Shadows, played by Alexandra Moltke. 

9. Lance White

Dashing but incompetent detective, played by Tom Selleck on several episodes of The Rockford Files. 



10. Jerrica Benton

The civilian identity of cartoon rock star Jem (soon to be a major motion picture)

11. Roswell Rogers

Prolific television writer who penned more than 100 episodes of Father Knows Best.

12. Dorothy Ramsey

You probably know her as Tootie (Kim Fields) on The Facts of Life. 



13. Miguelito Loveless

The diminutive but brilliant arch-enemy of James West and Artemus Gordon on The Wild, Wild West. He was played by Michael Dunn.

14. Gertrude Berg

Television pioneer who wrote, produced and starred in The Goldbergs, one of television’s first situation comedies.

15. Roy Hinkley

On Gilligan’s Island, they just called him The Professor. He was played by Russell Johnson. 



16. Lonnie Burr

One of the most popular of the original Mouseketeers on The Mickey Mouse Club.

17. Gloria Brancusi

The nurse played by Christopher Norris on Trapper John, MD, who had one of TV’s more memorable nicknames – “Ripples.” 



18. Frank Nelson

Comedic character actor who was constantly befuddling Jack Benny on Benny’s weekly variety show. Best known for his exaggerated “Yeeeeeeesssss?” 



19. Carol Merrill

The prize presenter behind all those boxes and curtains on the original Let’s Make a Deal.

20. Noodles Romanoff

The enemy of Roger Ramjet on the classic cartoon series.

21. Janet Louise Johnson

The actress who replaced Pamela Sue Martin as Nancy Drew on the last few episodes of The Hardy Boys/Nancy Drew Mysteries. 



22. Charles Lane

Veteran character actor who specialized in crotchety old men, most notably as Homer Bedloe on Petticoat Junction. 



23. Vicki Lawson

The name of the little girl robot on Small Wonder.

24. Don Fedderson

The creator of such television classics as Family Affair and My Three Sons.

25. Arnold Ziffel

The pig on Green Acres.

26. Tara King

She took over as John Steed’s new partner on The Avengers, after the departure of Emma Peel (Diana Rigg). She was played by Linda Thorson. 



27. Earl J. Waggedorn

Precocious kid who befriended Julia’s son Corey on the groundbreaking Diahann Carroll series. Played by Michael Link, he was always referred to by his full name, even by his mother.

28. Fran Allison

She was the Fran in Kukla, Fran and Ollie.



29. Cliff Murdock

Played by Tom Poston and better known as “The Peeper,” he was an old friend of Bob Hartley on The Bob Newhart Show.

30. Vic Mizzy

He wrote the memorable theme songs to The Addams Family and Green Acres, among others. 





31. Whitney Blake

Several answers were acceptable here- she was the costar of the sitcom Hazel, she co-created the series One Day at a Time, and she was the mother of TV star Meredith Baxter.

32. Harvey Klinger

The insect-loving first crush of Marcia Brady on The Brady Bunch.

33. Edith Keeler

The woman who stole Captain Kirk’s heart in the classic Star Trek episode “City on the Edge of Forever.” She was played by Joan Colllins.




34. Norville Rogers

AKA Shaggy on Scooby-Doo, Where are You?

35. Noel Neill

Played Lois Lane on The Adventures of Superman, starring George Reeves. 



36. Byron Glick

Over-eager hotel house detective played by Don Adams on The Bill Dana Show. The character was the inspiration for Adams’ creation of Maxwell Smart on Get Smart. 



37. Pandora Spocks

This was how Elizabeth Montgomery was billed in the closing credits of Bewitched when she played Samantha’s cousin, Serena.

38. Mike Fink

Rival of The King of the Wild Frontier, Davy Crockett, on the classic Walt Disney series starring Fess Parker.

39. Sarah Purcell

Cohost of Real People, one of the first forays into reality television (1979-1984)

40. Sol Saks

The creator of Bewitched.

41. Andrea Thomas

High school science teacher, played by JoAnna Cameron, whose mystic amulet transformed her into the mighty Isis. 



42. Dick Tufeld

He performed the voice for the robot on Lost in Space.

43. Agnes Nixon

The soap opera pioneer who created both All My Children and One Life to Live.

44. Roosevelt Franklin

One of the original Sesame Street muppets, and an early victim of political correctness (after he was deemed “too ethnic”).



45. Alexandra Cabot

Skunk-haired nemesis of Josie James and her band on Josie and the Pussycats.

46. Bruno Martelli

The brilliant pianist played by Lee Curreri on Fame.

47. Bess Myerson

A one-time Miss America and a staple of 1950s panel games shows, most notably I’ve Got a Secret.

48. John Drake

The spy played by Patrick McGoohan on Danger Man. Some fans believe he continued to play Drake on his next series, The Prisoner.

49. April Dancer

She was The Girl from U.N.C.L.E., played by Stefanie Powers, later of Hart to Hart fame. 



50. Lucas McCain

The name of Chuck Connors’ fast-shooting character on The Rifleman. 



Monday, April 21, 2014

The Comfort TV Trivia Quiz

 
Ok, let’s just have some fun this week.

Among the many calamities for which the Internet is responsible (identity theft, Justin Bieber’s career, the death of responsible journalism), it has also pretty much killed the trivia contest.

And yes, I do recognize the irony of trashing the Internet on my blog.

Trivia contests used to be fun. There was a genuine sense of accomplishment if you knew the answers, and if you didn’t know a question it would bother you for the rest of the day. Now, of course, you can type the question into any search engine and 130,000 websites will pop up to provide the correct answer. 



But let’s try it anyway, and I’m trusting all of you to stay on the honor system. Below are 50 names. Your challenge is simply to figure out, as Jerry Seinfeld would say, “Who arrrrrre these people?” They could be actors, they might be characters, or they may have some other Comfort TV connection.

For those who resist the temptation to Google, the answers will be posted next week.

If you’d like, leave your score in the comments – let’s see if anyone gets them all.

1. Henry Bemis

2. Frances Lawrence

3. Grady Byrd

4. Cyndi Grecco

5. Willie Armitage

6. Sonia Manzano

7. Wilbur Post

8. Victoria Winters

9. Lance White

10. Jerrica Benton

11. Roswell Rogers

12. Dorothy Ramsey

13. Miguelito Loveless

14. Gertrude Berg

15. Roy Hinkley

16. Lonnie Burr

17. Gloria Brancusi

18. Frank Nelson

19. Carol Merrill

20. Noodles Romanoff

21. Janet Louise Johnson

22. Charles Lane

23. Vicki Lawson

24. Don Fedderson

25. Arnold Ziffel

26. Tara King

27. Earl J. Waggedorn

28. Fran Allison

29. Cliff Murdock

30. Vic Mizzy

31. Whitney Blake

32. Harvey Klinger

33. Edith Keeler

34. Norville Rogers

35. Noel Neill

36. Byron Glick

37. Pandora Spocks

38. Mike Fink

39. Sarah Purcell

40. Sol Saks

41. Andrea Thomas

42. Dick Tufeld

43. Agnes Nixon

44. Roosevelt Franklin

45. Alexandra Cabot

46. Bruno Martelli

47. Bess Myerson

48. John Drake

49. April Dancer

50. Lucas McCain

Monday, April 7, 2014

Terrible Shows I Like: The Amazing Spider-Man (1977)

 
Another Spider-Man movie opens next month, and as a one-time comic book collector I should be excited. But after four previous Spider-Man films, not to mention three Iron Mans and two Thors and three Batmans and an Avengers and god knows how many X-Men, even this former fanboy is finding it hard to get enthusiastic over another costumed blockbuster.

But back in 1977, there was nothing so awesome as the prospect of a live-action Spider-Man television series. Maybe Cheryl Ladd in that striped bikini on “Angels in Paradise,” but Spidey was a close second. 

There had already been shows inspired by Superman, Batman and Wonder Woman, but the Marvel Comics universe had been largely untapped outside of Saturday morning cartoons. Spider-Man, Marvel’s most popular character, had inspired a pretty good animated series with a classic theme song, and helped a few kids learn to read on PBS’s The Electric Company, but that was it. 




The Amazing Spider-Man (1977) starred Nicholas Hammond as Peter Parker. If you know his comic book origin you are apparently one up on the folks who made the pilot movie – just about all the details were changed beyond the radioactive spider bite. This was common practice at the time – loyalty to source material was not a priority, especially if it was just a comic book. These days, it’s that very respect for the original character creators and stories that have made films like The Avengers and Captain America: The Winter Solider so successful.

The movie performed well enough for CBS to green-light a series, but only a handful of episodes were made, that were then shuffled erratically into the network schedule over the next two years, destroying almost any chance for the show to build an audience. 



Besides the origin story and the scheduling, here’s what else they got wrong. Spider-Man is as beloved for his snappy patter as his superheroics – but in this series he never says a word under the mask. That’s a large chunk of character that never showed up. None of the hero’s famous rogues make an appearance – no Goblins, no Dr. Octopus, Vulture, Electro, Sandman – just the usual assortment of thieves, kidnappers and corrupt government officials.

The supporting cast was a mix of new characters and two that came from the comics, Daily Bugle publisher J. Jonah Jameson and Peter’s Aunt May. Ellen Bry was a nice addition as Peter’s photographer rival Julie Masters, but fans certainly would have preferred an appearance from Gwen Stacy or Mary Jane Watson. 

So, yes, in many ways a terrible show. But my enduring affection stems from what was done right. That list starts with a good-looking costume, even if it didn’t quite match the perfection of John Wesley Shipp’s outfit as The Flash. The wall-crawling sequences were a triumph of special effects and stunt work, and the web-shooting, while primitive by today’s standards, got the point across. 



I also enjoyed seeing Nicholas Hammond as a likable, heroic character, since he spent most of his career playing smarmy jerks. It was Hammond who canceled a date with Marcia Brady after she was rendered less than perfect by an errant football; he was also a crooked cop who tried to rub out Nancy Drew on The Hardy Boys/Nancy Drew Mysteries, the judgmental father who tried to separate Selina McGee from her baby daughter in Family, a self-involved Bradford houseguest in Eight is Enough…and the list goes on. If it weren’t for Spider-Man and The Sound of Music, Hammond would probably still be dodging tomatoes hurled by classic TV fans.

The show had one other delight for me, and that was the guest appearance of JoAnna Cameron in the two-part episode “The Deadly Dust.” Seeing Spider-Man and Isis in the same show was nerd nirvana then, and is still a lot of fun now. 



No DVDs yet on this series, which is surprising given the number of Spider-Man films released over the past decade. But if you still have your VCR hooked up, many of the episodes are available on videocassette. That may indeed be the perfect way to view a 1970s relic that has been surpassed by superior versions, but is not without its charms.